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Cayman Islands Monetary Authority Note May 2011
11/05/2011

Two more International Cooperation Agreements completed.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (“CIMA”) continues to enter into agreements with other international regulatory bodies as part of its ongoing commitment to international cooperation.
Since the start of 2011, two further memoranda of understanding have been executed to increase the number of memoranda to 21. The latest to be executed were with Dubai and Turks and Caicos islands.

On the signature of the memorandum with Dubai the premier of the Cayman Islands, the Hon McKeeva Bush said that the memorandum with Dubai “…reinforces the regulator to regulator cooperation which the Government of the Cayman Islands fully supports. As I have previously stated, there are many synergies between our jurisdictions and I am proud to have been able to be a part of this solidification in our ongoing relationship with Dubai.”

There are already memoranda in place between the Cayman Islands and Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Malta, Panama, the U.K. and several within the U.S.A., the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and eight Caribbean regulatory authorities. The U.S.A. memoranda include one with four U.S. banking regulators.

These memoranda confirm the basis and means of cooperation between regulators by establishing channels of communication. Moreover, they set out guidance and a transparency to the methods adopted by and the interactions between the regulators. The memoranda provide a clear framework for cooperation, in addition to the existing relationships between the Cayman Islands and other regulators around the world.
The CIMA states that the memoranda “…outline the ways in which regulators can cooperate and share information with each other, such as:

- providing, confirming or verifying information;
- obtaining specified information and documents from other parties;
- discussing issues of mutual interest;
- arranging and/or conducting inspections of financial
services providers, and
- permitting representatives of the requesting authority to participate in enquiries by or on behalf of the requested authority. “

Furthermore the memoranda establish a procedure for the exchange of information by setting out the procedure to make a request and the assessment of the request to determine whether the requested assistance can be given.

We understand that a memorandum with Mexico will be executed in the very near future.

In a separate announcement, the CIMA stated that the number of licensed funds suffered a small decline in numbers, from 9,438 to 9,261 in the three months to 31 March 201. The level of fund administrators remained unchanged, while the number of banks and securities investment business law licensees showed a slight increase with the number of registered private trust companies increasing from 44 to 50.